A week or so later i had bought resuable bags, like 2-3, and would always leave them in my car. It became 2nd nature to me almost instantly. Since them I've always used reusable tote bags until they break. I even have one from a party i threw more than 6 years ago that belonged to someone esle lol
Ive since move back home to a city that has no plastic ban and im literally the only person who brings tote bags into stores. The only downside now is i can sometimes look sketch as hell but yea idc i support resuable bags hopefully more people can minimize their plastic footprint in plastic bags or other ways
>but the idea that they’re going to be buying these new bags ever other trip to the store because they’re piling up in a room at home for years is hard for me to believe.
What's likely happening is that they go out to buy something, forgot their bag, and is forced to buy a reusable bag. If enough people are forgetful, the "90% of the new reusable bags are used a mere two or three times" seems very plausible to me.
Moreover if it is such an issue for you why don't you buy one of these soft thin fabric bags that essentially roll up into their own little bag and are small enough to always carry around?
Like these https://www.ulsterweavers.com/collections/roll-up-bags
About half a year ago, they were telling me about how they're seeing more and more of those thicker bags in their buildings' large shared garbage dumpsters, rather than the much thinner plastic bags that used to be used for bundling garbage back when they were still readily available.
I wouldn't be surprised if it has gotten worse since then, as people have gradually used up the thin plastic bags they'd previously collected and used for bundling garbage.
BTW, the biggest outcome is that I use fewer bags in general, and just don't take a bag when I don't need one.
My other problem is I can't reuse paper bags as trash bags (because even a tiny amount of liquid will leak through). So now I have to buy plastic trash bags, which sucks because I do in fact care about the environment.
But the real problem with single-use plastic bags is that they blow out of dumpsters and landfills. They're incredibly bad for the environment, in ways that re-usable bags and even larger trash bags are not.
• I'm walking to work / home / a social outing / etc, with no intention of going shopping.
• I pass by a store on the way.
• I now need a bag.
Could I always bring a bag with me when I go out? Yes, but I try to travel as light as possible because I'm walking.
(note: this is rendered null anyway because I do need to drive everywhere in my suburb).
• What spur of the moment shopping are you talking about?
And I do a lot (the majority?) of my grocery shopping spur of the moment. Basically when I'm on my way home and realize I have extra time and it's not so late that the grocery stores have closed. And my life is such that knowing whether I'll have time to shop that evening is entirely unpredictable.
In your jeans pocket? Not unless you want to look... well let's just say that bulging pockets on your butt, or on the front of your pant, are not a good look... not to mention not being particularly comfortable.
Search term was "pocket shopping bag"
Near the park there's a great bakery. You see they're having a nice sale on a box of a dozen croissants, and their croissants are the best in the city. So do you:
- Grab a couple boxes, and a reusable bag to carry them in?
- Walk 15 minutes home to get your bag, then 15 minutes back, then 15 minutes back home (45 minutes total) just so you don't pay $3 for a bag?
- Carry around a bag all the time even though you had no intention to buy anything when you left, and use it only a few times over the hundreds of time you leave your apartment?
It's even worse if you have to e.g. jump on a crowded subway.
This not a hypothetical. I learned pretty fast to always bring a mostly empty backpack with me to the park. I pack a couple of beach towels, maybe bring a jacket, and an e-reader. Sometimes I may not lay down on the grass, or not read. Or I may meet with someone and have a towel at the ready for them. But I have multiple options and none of them is a burden.
Carrying an almost empty backpack for a recreational activity takes zero effort, and it can be used to carry groceries on the way back if I want. Each of the things I carry in it is the result of a previous time where I didn’t have it. People in this thread are acting as if this is an intractable problem. It’s not. Every time you’re faced with a problem of this nature think “what could I do to avoid this next time?” then do that.
† Or whatever the latest euphemism is for a purse carried by a man
Looks like you’re not willing to endure any inconvenience, however minor, to avoid buying the plastic bag and being a bit friendlier to the environment. That’s your prerogative, but let’s not pretend these “problems” don’t have simple solutions.
If more people were willing to give up their cars (or accept something like a 100% extra tax on gasoline to be put towards carbon removal efforts), I would be more open to arguments to give up my plastic bags.
Put another way: I would like legislation which makes walkable, car-free living as easy and painless as possible. Disposable plastic bags make car free living more pleasant, so they shouldn't be banned unless there is a very strong case for significant and meaningful carbon savings.
Yes, we should pass better laws. Yes, we don’t have them now. But when (if) we do, I’d rather have a fighting chance than it being too late because the water is already up to my neck.
The inconveniences I'm describing are personal gripes, but I don't believe they only apply to me! On the contrary, I think they explain all the not-reused reusable bag sales. You can say "these people should just do X Y and Z", but unless they actually do that, plastic bag bans aren't helping the environment.
(If we're exclusively discussing my personal carbon emissions, I used to reuse every single one of my shopping bags as trash bags. Now I buy separate plastic trash bags instead, so my emissions have gone up.)
And then there's the other way they harm the environment: we need more people to give up their cars and move to cities (or form new walkable cities). If you make city life less convenient, fewer people will do that.
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1: https://www.freedoniagroup.com/press-releases/freedonia-repo...
2: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/grocery-bag-environmental...
No worries, we definitely aren’t.
Unfortunately I have an early flight tomorrow so won’t be able to continue the conversation. Still, thank you for the discussion. Have a nice <your time of day>.
Nonsense. I haven't owned a car for years, nor have I used anything other than a reusable bag for years. Disposable bags are awful for carrying because they tear so easily and can't be carried on your shoulder.
As I was saying, this is not the hassle it seems like it is being made out to be. Setting that aside, a box seems like just as good a vessel to carry as a bag, so in this specific case, I really don't understand the issue. If this place has such good pastries and you know, you can plan ahead and pay full price.
If this really is somehow life changing savings on pastries I mean, yeah, taking some extra time walking won't do any harm.
https://seatosummit.com/products/ultra-sil-day-pack - I've had a few different versions of this bag for years. There are also cheaper/bigger/different versions of the same sort of thing you can find online for "packable daypack".
https://nanobag.com/products/nanobag - I have heard good things about these, but I prefer a backpack because it allows me to be hands-free, or to use my hands to hold more items.
However, I would start by carrying a lightweight "single-use" plastic bag, and simply re-use it. Plastic bags are not as strong as these premium bags, but they hold up well enough to be useful in most scenarios.
"Honey, can you get eggs on your way home? We just ran out"
> What spur of the moment shopping are you talking about?
Groceries. It's common around here to shop often but in small quantities, because the grocery store is likely somewhere on the footpath from work to home, from work to public transit, or from public transit to home.
Which means you're either carrying the bulky bag with you all day, or using single-use bags. Or, of course, you could buy a car to follow the "stop whining just throw a few in your trunk" suggestions always posted /s
This is incorrect. There are reusable bags that fold into pocket sized. Ikea has them, among other brands. Now that you know, I'm sure you'll reevaluate your outlook on them, right?
Additionally, if you're coming back from work, you probably already have a bag to carry stuff you need for work that you can use to carry a "spur of the moment" amount of groceries or other bags. However, this sounds more like a regular occurrence you are neglecting to prepare for rather than a spur of the moment thing.
Sure, and this definitely happened in my region of Canada where plastic bags were banned already, but eventually people will stop forgetting once their closet fills with too many reusable bags.
Not sure on the actual data but other grocery stores have gradually increased the price of re-usable bags to the point where they are cost enough to make you think twice about paying for them.
Seeing people awkwardly carrying random items back home without a bag is not uncommon.
I do still buy a lot of bags and I sometimes do not have one on me.
Maybe I’m an outlier but I have another 3-4 of these bags of bags at home with reusable bags. Most people I talk to have the same.
I do refill my car with them occasionally, but I either forget to bring them or do grocery shopping at unanticipated times and don’t have a bag with me.
One of the things that pushed me away from using Instacart was that they'd always bring groceries in the heavyweight bags.
I reuse them now that I stopped using Instacart, but I certainly collected a whole pile of them.
Re: throwing them out vs recycling them, our bags you can only recycle at the store themselves...so just a bit too much friction to bother with. I can't recall ever seeing or hearing of anyone recycling them that way either.
https://www.google.com/aclk?sa=l&ai=DChcSEwjk8p3YqZKEAxVQZZE...
https://www.northjersey.com/gcdn/presto/2019/06/07/PNJM/74a3...
Have seen these "reusable bags" that the store gives you? They are basically the same as before, just a lot thicker and more plastic.
They are not nice woven bags or something. People then seem to keep using them as trash can liners.
On top of that, I've made the problem even worse because they are just horribly bulky to carry around if you aren't driving to the places you shop. Due to this bulk I went out and purchased some nice thin nylon bags that are easily pocketable so I actually use them. But they came in a package of like 30 when I've needed maybe 5 of them including the ones I've given to people.
But other than being thicker and stiffer, they look just like the old plastic bags.
Most people I know don't know they're reusable (and probably don't care). So they use them as single use bags. It's only 10 cents.
Textbook case of unintended consequence of regulation.
Here's an example from WinCo:
https://peopleinparks.com/2019/02/07/dear-reusable-winco-bag...
I could see people forgetting these bags at home for a while as they adjust to their new normal, but the idea that they’re going to be buying these new bags ever other trip to the store because they’re piling up in a room at home for years is hard for me to believe.
Given that the conclusion of that article depends on people never getting good at reusing those bags and instead throwing them away or letting them accumulate forever at home, I have a hard time taking it seriously.